Can I clean install Win8.1 after upgrading to Win10?

elaine98

New Member
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1
A year ago I bought a Lenovo Yoga 2 that came with Windows 8.

Unfortunately, I upgraded to Windows 10 several months ago. It has been such a nightmare I want Windows 8 back.

Can I just buy a new copy of Windows 8.1 and clean install it on my laptop? Someone told me once its been upgraded to Windows 10 that I can't do that, but that just doesn't seem right.

I'm not very savvy when it comes to doing a reinstall. I'm not sure what to buy and I want to make sure trying this won't brick my computer. OEM, Full, etc seems like there is so many things to consider when trying to buy just a regular old version of Windows 8.1 :confused:

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Yoga 2
Hello Elaine, and welcome to Eight Forums. :)

If you still have your Windows 8.1 product key, then you can indeed download a Windows 8.1 ISO file, create a bootable installation USB, do clean install of Windows 8.1, and activate with your key during installation.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/18309-windows-8-windows-8-1-iso-download-create.html

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/15458-uefi-bootable-usb-flash-drive-create-windows.html

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...e-firmware-interface-install-windows-8-a.html
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Duh! It's totally not true, that installing Windows 10 commits you to that OS for life. What #%$^ ever said that?
Any hard drive can simply be re-formatted and a new OS installed. Heck, the windows 8.1 installer will even do the reformatting for you....OH, and, it can also even remove any extra partitions that Win-10 created when it installed. Leaving you with a nice CLEAN HD for the install.
I only say this, because I've already done it....way too many times actually.

I had several PC's here, both Desktops and Laptops that I used for Beta Testing Windows 10, both 32 bit and 64 bit, for well over six months.
I've since reformatted all of them and installed new OS's, mostly Windows 8.1.

If you want to throw the PC in the car and drive on down here, I'll help you set it up with windows 8.1.*

Cheers,
TechnoMage :cool:

* I actually met one guy on a forum, that wanted me to super tune his PC and he didn't want to drive down here from Arkansas, so he boxed up the PC and UPS'd it to me. I whooped the Super Tune on it and UPS'd it back to him in Arkansas. Life is sometimes stranger than fiction.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win-8.1/Pro/64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer X-1200
    CPU
    AMD 2 Core
    Motherboard
    Acer
    Memory
    Crucial, 4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDEA GeForce 9200
    Sound Card
    On Board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24" Acer
    Hard Drives
    Sandisk, SSD 500GB
    PSU
    Acer
    Case
    SFF Slimline
    Keyboard
    emachines 101 key
    Mouse
    Logitech Wireless
    Internet Speed
    5 Meg
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Using Classic Shell on Win-8.1 /pro/64
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